I discovered the wonderful Apollo Cosplay while interviewing LeoMagus (check out the earlier Cosplayer of the Week posts for more on him!). I’m so impressed with their shapeshifting capabilities; it’s not easy to be both a princess and a cool and collected advisor to a prince at the same time!
Age: 21
Location: Buckinghamshire
Favourite food: Neapolitan pizza
What’s your favourite part of the costume making progress?
My favourite part has to be the first costest. It’s always a great moment when you put everything together for the first time and it has all come together the way you wanted it to.
How long does it normally take you to complete a costume, and what is your most complicated costume to date?
On average, between 1-2 months. My most complicated cosplay has to be Angela from Marvel’s comics. She is a full armour build and took me about 6 months to finish.
Speaking of complex costumes, your Ardyn cosplay looks very technical in its construction. Are there any techniques you wish you’d known when you started?
Ardyn has been a big learning experience for me. His cosplay is the first sewn cosplay made entirely by myself. Because of that I did not take shortcuts, he has some very intricate details on his coat that I decided to hand embroider. That section alone took me 3 months to sew, 4 hours every day. But now I have found out that I could have used my sewing machine to make a similar effect and it would have been done in half the time.
If you could give any advice to cosplayers just starting out, what would it be?
I would say do your research and check out what other cosplayers have done. I find that when you look at reference photos of characters (especially animated characters) it is very intimidating and can be confusing to a newcomer or any cosplayer. Check out other cosplayers, see what material they used, what wig stores they recommend, what make up they use and so on. Also I would say that everybody starts somewhere, and that you should not be afraid to experiment.